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Topic: What do you do to keep your Faith Strong??? (Read 2702 times)

On my decision to become Orthodox, I kind of eased my way into church service, and it all happened during Lent. So there were alot of church services. So when my faith was going down, I just went to a service, to get a faith boost, I mean they had a service like 2 and 3 times a week during Lent. Now that Lent is over, we only have service once a week.

So what do you all do to keep your faith strong???

In my prior faith, we had prayer every day at least two times a day. And I would pray at the prayer hall at least once a day. And I would listen to spiritual lectures by my teacher as well, which also help me keep my faith. But now.....

I don't know what do... I mean I pray everyday at home, I set up an icon corner. I do the Jesus prayer.

Is it you are asking to do more because you do not feel what you do is enough, or because you personally need to do more to keep your faith strong? I think other members of this forum will tell you there are highs and lows in the way we all experience our faith. Lent is a pretty intense spiritual period for an Orthodox Christian and, obviously, the period afterwards could be considered the anticlimax, especially for someone new in this faith.

You could talk to your spiritual father about this and do as he says. It occurs to me you could perhaps ask him also for some reading material if reading is something you like doing. Maybe lives of the saints or writings of the Fathers, something about everyday life you could feel you connect to.

Praying, participating in the sacramental life of the Church, and loving as taught by our Lord, are the three things I believe we all work towards, to various degrees according to our strengths and circumstances, with God´s grace. I expect other brothers who have perhaps been in your situation - as time goes by, those who live in various states over the Atlantic will go online - will have some more adequate advice to give.

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"Thoughts are like airplanes flying in the air. If you ignore them, there is no problem. If you pay attention to them, you create an airport inside your head and permit them to land!" (Priestmonk Christodoulos Aggeloglou, Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain Mount Athos, Greece, 1998,pp. 29-30, 48)

To me, I believe, one very essential thing that keeps my faith is simply meditation on my past. It always strikes me how I so clearly see my faults, imperfections, sins when I look back, while at that time I did not even notice these faults, imperfections, sins, thought I was completely alright. But that's me, I am an older guy, already 50. For younger folks that might not work.

To me, I believe, one very essential thing that keeps my faith is simply meditation on my past. It always strikes me how I so clearly see my faults, imperfections, sins when I look back, while at that time I did not even notice these faults, imperfections, sins, thought I was completely alright. But that's me, I am an older guy, already 50. For younger folks that might not work.

Ah..the old post Pascha slump..Been there.

Just do your normal thing with greater effort. If possible, a weekend visit to a Monestary will keep you on your game I bet. Pray and fast.

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Your idea has been debunked 1000 times already.. Maybe 1001 will be the charm

On my decision to become Orthodox, I kind of eased my way into church service, and it all happened during Lent. So there were alot of church services. So when my faith was going down, I just went to a service, to get a faith boost, I mean they had a service like 2 and 3 times a week during Lent. Now that Lent is over, we only have service once a week.

So what do you all do to keep your faith strong???

In my prior faith, we had prayer every day at least two times a day. And I would pray at the prayer hall at least once a day. And I would listen to spiritual lectures by my teacher as well, which also help me keep my faith. But now.....

I don't know what do... I mean I pray everyday at home, I set up an icon corner. I do the Jesus prayer.

Any other suggestions?

Conferences. I'm trying to go to one at the end of this month.

Also if there are other Parishes around, that have more services then attend one of theres, at least until your parish does vespers again.

Your parish may also have a few things going on over the summer, so ask around and try to get involved. Some parishes have Bible studies, some don't.

Some have lecture series, while others don't.

Ask around. Maybe you can visit a local Monastery. If you have a BA or a BS, then maybe you can take a few part time noncredit Orthodox seminary courses. I know, mine doesn't start until October. But ask around.

JNORM888

« Last Edit: May 17, 2008, 03:56:21 PM by jnorm888 »

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"loving one's enemies does not mean loving wickedness, ungodliness, adultery, or theft. Rather, it means loving the theif, the ungodly, and the adulterer." Clement of Alexandria 195 A.D.

Just do your normal thing with greater effort. If possible, a weekend visit to a Monestary will keep you on your game I bet. Pray and fast.

Fast? During Pascha? How can we do that when the Bridegroom is with us? (Well, on Wednesdays and Fridays, fast if your particular church's discipline calls for it. )

My personal experience has taught me to not set myself up for disappointment and its evil sibling, despondency, by expecting the mountain top high of Pascha to continue through the whole 40 days of Paschaltide and into the whole year. Often the deepest spirituality is cultivated through just staying the course and continuing to pray and develop the virtues when everything is just mundane and routine and you just don't feel any emotional high coming from your praxis.

Say morning and evening prayers from the Jordanville prayer book. Keep the fasts and the commandments of Christ. Read the Scripture's. Read the lives of saints and theological writings. And love your neighbor as yourself.

as a former Muslim you might still remember your day interrupted by the five daily prayers.

So, as this tradition even has a biblical background you could just practice what Muhammad has learned from Orthodox monks those days.

As the eastern orthodox Horologion is very beautiful but as well quite complicated, you will need at least two books at the same time when praying it, I might suggest for you the coptic "Agbeya" which is of great antiquity and tradition; is combined within one book and is available in either English or Arabic even as a PDF in the internet.

St Basil the Great (330-379 A.D.): “I think then that the one goal of all who are really and truly serving the Lord ought to be to bring back to union the churches who have at different times and in diverse manners divided from one another.”

Hanging out with other Orthodox Christians as often as you can, attending the Church's services, reading the OSB and above all else (at least in addition to)... Pray to the Saints to help you. Pray to our Holy Mother to Save you. Pray to our Saviour Christ to have mercy upon you.

I realize that Irenaeus07 doesn't post here very often, but I thought I'd go ahead and share anyway.

« Last Edit: December 03, 2009, 10:22:20 PM by GabrieltheCelt »

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"The Scots-Irish; Brewed in Scotland, bottled in Ireland, uncorked in America." ~Scots-Irish saying

"The means to confirm and strengthen Christian hope are prayer,especially frequent and sincere prayer, confession of our sins,frequent reading of the Word of God, and, above all, frequentcommunion of the holy and life-giving sacraments of the Body andBlood of Christ."

I say morning and evening prayers and pray the jesus prayer with my prayer rope and read about the lives of Saints. I pray to the Holy Mother and the saints and to Christ. And I go to Divine liturgy Sundays.